Bill 23 basically states: No trash pickup from private refuse companies before 6 a.m.
Bill 23 must be placed on the agenda for the Transportation, Sustainability and Health Committee by Wednesday August 17. The hearing date for the committee is August 23.
Here are a few reasons why:
1) If council members would not tolerate being abused by way too early morning trash pickup, as early as 2:30 a.m., then neither should anyone else.
2) This is an embarrassment to city council members as Honolulu may be the only city in the country that allows trash pickup as early as 2:30 a.m.
3) It is a no-brainer that residents should be protected from way too early morning trash pickup, as early as 2:30 a.m.
4) It is simply the right thing to do.
5) No one deserves the abuse of being awakened as early as 2:30 a.m. by the beeping, banging, and clanging of private refuse trucks.
6) Any objection that private refuse companies may have against trash pickup beginning at 6 a.m. can be resolved.
7) Sleep deprivation has a profoundly harmful impact on health and quality of life.
8) If the city can pick up trash beginning at 6 a.m. for its tens of thousands of households, then private refuse company owners can do the same for their much smaller number of clients.
Greater action is needed from all of us to move the bill forward.
Information about Bill 23 is on the website: www.TheTrash.us
A special thank you to Carlino Giampolo for composing this article.
Chair Robert Finley
Waikiki Neighborhood Board
Mr. Finley,
The Waikiki Neighborhood Board has an important fiduciary duty to protect the health and well-being of the Waikiki community, which includes taking action on the issue of early morning trash pick up by private refuse companies, as early as 2:30 a.m.
I am grateful that on May 10, 2022, the board voted to support Bill 23, which basically states: No trash pickup before 6 a.m. I am also grateful for the actions of Vice Chair Louis Erteschik who wrote to the Transportation, Sustainability, and Health Committee to have the bill placed on the agendas. However, those actions by board members, as well as numerous emails from Waikiki residents in support of Bill 23, were deemed insignificant by council members, as Bill 23 is at a standstill and has not moved beyond the first reading.
As the board chair, you are fully aware of Waikiki residents’ pain and suffering. This issue has been brought to the board’s attention for as long as you have been a member. The board must be accountable and take stronger action.
I am requesting that the Waikiki Neighborhood Board, in its fiduciary duty to the community, file a lawsuit against the City and County of Honolulu to accelerate the passing of Bill 23 and to protect our community from the abuse of way too early morning trash pickup by private refuse companies, as early as 2:30 a.m. The abuse cannot be justified, and it must end.
I am also asking that the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association and the Waikiki Improvement Association be named in the lawsuit. The silence of these organizations has only emboldened the City and County of Honolulu, and private refuse companies, to continue the status quo of abuse with early trash pickup.
There are basically two pathways for change to occur: The Path of Tragedy or the Path of Dignity. I strongly urge the board not to wait until more tragedies occur in our Waikiki community with the abuse of early morning trash pickup. I trust that the board will take the Path of Dignity with bold, legal action to support Bill 23.
Thank you,
Carlino Giampolo
The Waikiki Neighborhood Board Meeting on 9/13 – Bill 23
The following remarks were made at the Waikiki Neighborhood Board meeting on 9/13:
With only two minutes to speak, it is not enough time to go into the details of the actions taken this past month, but I want to make four key points about Bill 23 which states: No trash pickup before 6 a.m.
1) This issue has been brought to the attention of CBS 60 Minutes and Pro Publica, a nonprofit national news organization that does investigative journalism.
2) Bill 23 was introduced on March 28 but is now at a standstill. On August 17, the bill was not placed on the agenda for a committee hearing and I wanted to know why. A Right to Know request for public records was made to council members Cordero, Say, and Waters, for a one-month period prior to that date.
The response indicates that private refuse companies sent no correspondence, nor did council members send anything to the private refuse companies. There were no phone calls made nor meetings held between council members and private refuse companies.
In contrast, the response indicates that twenty-six emails were sent in support of the bill to the committee chair, with six of them from condominium AOAO boards of directors. Despite the overwhelming support to end the abuse, the bill was not placed on the August agenda.
3) Bill 23 must be placed on the agenda tomorrow for the September committee hearing. Should the bill not be on the agenda, a letter will be sent to the chair of the Waikiki Neighborhood Board to file a lawsuit against the City and County of Honolulu, as well as the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association and the Waikiki Improvement Association.
4) Finally, Senator Sharon Moriwaki, who also has been sent a Right to Know request, is in touch with private refuse companies to end the early morning trash pickup in the Ena Road area, and we wish her success. There are some condominiums that have a clause written in their contracts that private refuse companies cannot operate until later in the morning well after 6 a.m. The private refuse companies have complied with the requests of those condominiums.
We cannot stop our actions until there is no trash pickup before 6 a.m. by private refuse companies for every resident in Waikiki, and in the City and County of Honolulu.
Carlino Giampolo
(808) 282-4100
carlinog@hotmail.com
This is one of the issues of living Waikiki. I’ve expected it for 50 years. It kept our cleansing to a necessary minimum. I prefer allowing the noise to comparing the beauty and requirements of a few residents.